Seven Days , Seven Nights
by krystal-flaks
Summary: ( Chapter 2 is up ! :) ) Guess what happens when Peeves enters the picture ? Yup , ultimate havoc ! Two enemies . Two opposing houses . What happens when an ancient charm crosses their paths ? Read on . :)
1. Chapter 0 : Hocus Pocus When the clock s...

7  
  
Disclaimer : All characters belonged to J.K Rowling , the writer of " Harry Potter" series , except the stupid plot .   
  
Chapter 0 : Hocus Pocus : When the clock struck twelve ......  
  
11. 16 p.m.   
  
Hermoine Granger yawned . She had been in the common room for five hours straight in order to prepare for the Potion test that is going to take place in two weeks' time . She shifted her stiff body on the velvet armchair. No use . Her back still felt as if it was stuck in place . Hermoine decided to take a break by sifting through for some other reading materials to get her mind off the Potion List that she had been studying .   
  
  
11. 20 p.m.  
  
Draco Malfoy removed his expensive black robe and hung it on the clothes stand . Slowly , he paced across the Prefect Bathroom and turned on the hot water tap . Warm water flowed endlessly in the gigantic bathtub . Draco let out a sigh as he submerged himself into the hot water . He felt relaxed , after a whole day of Quidditch practice in preparation of the next interhouse Quidditch tournament . The warm water had felt so good . He was thankful that nobody would come for bathing at such a late hour . He did not want to spend the only precious time he had for himself with some other pest-y prefects from other houses , trying to exchange witty conversations or in some case spiteful insults . Almost automatically , his mind drifted to the image of Ron Weasley and Harry Potter from the Gryffindor . And , of course , the Mudblood --- Hermoine Granger .   
Draco leaned his body on the walls of the tub . Slytherin house had been giving a lot of pressure on Draco as he was the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch Team and one of the least prefects that Slytherin was able to produce . The Slytherin House had also been implying that he should run for the next Head Boy. " For the sake of the Slytherins , right Draco ?," Goyle had nudged him much to his displeasure that very evening . Draco knew that the Slytherins had hoped that he would become the next Headboy so that they might be able to get away easily next time they get into any trouble with the school rules .   
" For the sake of the Slytherins......"   
Draco slanted his lean body and immersed himself into the water . For the sake of the Slytherin ? Since when does he became the representative of the Slytherin House ?   
  
" Since the you were born ." A voice in the back of his head answered him.   
  
Yes , he was slipping into the world of the dark side ever since he was born . His father , Lucius Malfoy , had been the faithful servant of Voldemort and had intended to lead Draco into serving the Dark Lord . His father had wished that he would become the head of the Slytherin House or someone important in his stay in Hogwarts so that Draco could prove his worth to the Dark Lord . Yet , he did not want to . He did not want to lose the only human touch to his father's wishes . He had been given a bad reputation ever since he was born . He did not want to follow his father's foolish footsteps . He hated it . He hated his last name . Malfoy .   
Draco brought his head up again . There were tears in his eyes .   
  
11.41 p.m.   
  
Hermoine settled comfortably into one of the armchair near the fireplace . The fire cast a shadow across her face . She flipped into the content page of the big,and leather-bound book on her lap . It was too heavy for her to lift it up . She traced her index finger down the page. The spell of invisibility . ... The spell of flying ...... Wait , the spell of bringing bad luck to your enemy ? One name floated to her mind immediately : Draco Malfoy . He deserved death .   
She flipped to the page where the spell is . Page 663 . She placed a finger delicately on the page in fear of tearing it as it was such an ancient book . She read the content softly to herself .  
  
" In order to cast a Bad Luck Charm on your enemy , you are required to whisper his name for one thousand times across a piece of broken mirror continuously . Be careful not to lose count over the times you had muttered his name . A lack of one time or a break on the continuation would cause you to suffer the same fate as your enemy ."  
  
Hermoine smiled to herself . This is too easy . Just break a mirror and she can cause Draco Malfoy bad luck. Just then , her stomach rumbled . Of course . She had skipped tea and supper just to study . Standing up , she went to the boys' dorm to borrow Harry's invisibility cloak and to pick up some broken pieces of a mirror that Lavender Brown , her good friend , had accidentally broke and moved as quietly as possible to the kitchen .   
  
  
11.46 p.m.  
  
Draco wiped his face with a towel . He felt much better after spending some quality time with himself .   
  
" Time to return to the boys' dorm ."  
  
He picked up his stuff and slipped on his invisibility cloak that was given to him for his 16th birthday and walked briskly out of the Prefects' Bathroom . After all , it was not good to be seen by Filch after school hours , Prefect or not .   
  
11.56 p.m.   
  
Hermoine staggered slightly under the weight of things she was trying to carry . In her right hand , there was a basket full of food , given to her by the kitchen elves . Those were sufficient to last Harry , Ron and her for their next three meals. In her left hand was the bag of broken mirror , which she intended to start using on her way back to the common room . The trip had took her a whole of 15 minutes . Holding up her left hand , she began to mutter .   
  
" Draco Malfoy . Draco Malfoy . Draco Malfoy ."   
  
Yet , unknown to her , another invisible figure was now moving fast towards her .   
  
  
11.59 p.m.   
  
Draco moved fast in hope that he would not run right into Filch , Hogwarts' caretaker . In order to get into the Slytherin's common room , he would have to cut through the Great Hall . Filch always hang-out with Mrs Norris , his cat , in the Great Hall . A shiver ran down his spine as he thought of the bright eyes of Mrs Norris . That cat seemed to have the ability to see through invisibility cloak .   
He stepped cautiously into the Great Hall from the stairways . All clear . now all he had to do was to run across to the other stairway , climb up and presto - It was the Slytherin Common room .   
  
11:59 20 p.m.   
  
The 20th time . " Draco Malfoy ."  
  
Hermoine continued to mutter the name of Draco Malfoy , with her head bowed , as she paced slowly across he Great Hall . Anyway , Filch could not see her . Also , she have another basket to carry .   
Draco began to dash across the Great Hall . He have to get across fast .   
Hermoine heard footsteps coming towards her . Who was it ? She could not see anyone ......  
  
  
Then , the clock struck twelve .  
Hermoine felt the wind knocked out of her as someone crashed right straight into her . The bag of broken mirror and the basket of food fell onto the marble hallway ,along with the invisibility cloak .   
  
" Ouch !"   
  
" Oomph !"   
  
Hermoine stood up slowly as she tried to balance herself properly . Now , who the hell was that ? She bent down and retrieve all her stuff lying on the floor . The invisibility cloak ... the basket ....the bag of broken mirror . Wait , hold on . The broken mirror ...... Shoot . She had totally forgotten about the curse . In fact , she had broken the continuation of the curse . Now , judging from the circumstances she was in , the curse was already starting to backfire on her .   
  
Draco looked up and squirmed his eyes to adjust to the dark . He could make out brown bushy hair . He did a mental check . There were only a few people with brown bushy hair . Yet , he remembered that he did not see anyone just now . That meant only one thing : If he did not see any of the school ghosts wandering around , the thing he knocked into was a student . If he could not see the student , that meant that he or she had an invisibility cloak . The only person , as far as he knew , who had an invisibility cloak besides him , was Potter . But then , Potter did not have long , bushy hair ....... That meant ......  
  
" Malfoy ?"  
  
Bingo . So he had guessed correctly . He had just knocked into Hermoine Granger , one of the last person he would to see this moment of time .   
  
" Mudblood Granger ."   
  
Draco could see that Hermoine was now frowning .   
  
" You have no right to call me a mudblood , ok ? You knocked into me . You should apologise ."  
  
" Why on earth should us , the Malfoys , apologise to a lowly mudblood ?"  
  
Hermoine could not believe it . So much of parental guidance . She raised the volume of her voice.  
  
" What the hell makes you think that you are more highly than anybody else in the school ?"   
  
She could see that he had tilted his head slightly to her question . Hermoine remembered that he had shown this expression before when Lucius Malfoy asked him a question in Hogwarts during their second year . That should be thought-provoking enough . Good . She had hit some nerves .   
  
" Because my father told me so ."   
  
Draco had not expect this . He had never been asked or questioned about his status in Hogwarts or the wizardry world . Actually , he had always been questioning himself on why he had to hate the muggle-born witches or wizards . " Because my father told me so ." The phrase left an empty echo in his mind .   
  
Hermoine examined Draco's face . There was a look of emptiness . She decided to probe deeper .   
  
" Because your father told you so ?! What kind of answer was that ? You know why you obeyed your father ? Because you are a coward . Because you are scared of him . Because you ....."   
  
"STOP IT! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH EVERYTIME I WENT HOME FOR BREAKS !"  
  
  
Hermoine moved one step back as Draco's reply echoed in the silent hall . She was startled by the sudden outburst . Draco's face was now bright red and shaken . The air of arrogance that had been surrounding him seemed to have vanished . She had never seen him behaving like this before . Ok , maybe she had hit too many nerves .   
Just then , another set of footsteps thundered towards them . A tall figure held up the lamp in his hand . A pair of bright eyes followed suit . Filch and Mrs Norris . They were caught .  
  
" What are two of you doing here screamingat such late hours ? "   
  
Filch smirked as Draco and Hermoine looked at each other .   
  
" My , prefects indeed . What would Professor McGonagall say ? One week of detention for both of you."   
  
Hermoine can still hear Filch's gleeful laughter ringing into her ears as he left both of them . Right . The curse was definitely backfiring on her . She looked at Draco who was quietly collecting his stuff . Their eyes met as he raised his head . Draco's eyes were cold and hard . He spun around and stomped off up the spiral stairways into Slytherin's Common Room .Hermoine sighed as she walked back to the Gryffindor Common Room . This was going to be a long week . 


	2. Chapter 1 : The First Half Of The First ...

Disclaimer : Everything in this story belonged to J.K Rowling , except the stupid plot .   
  
Note : Thanx Allee Kat and dustywind for your reviews !!! :)   
  
Chapter 1/2 : First Half of the First Day --- Wet   
  
7.20 a.m  
  
Hermoine yawned as she sat up on her bed . The girls' dormitory was exceptionally quiet . Where was everybody ? Then , it hit her . There was school today ! She took a glance at her muggle alarm clock . It pointed to 3.40 a.m. in the morning . Hermoine threw her hands at up in exasperation . Her alarm clock had actually stopped working since last night . Now , she had to rush in order to catch up with Ron and Harry . After cursing to herself for a while , she skipped out of bed and ran straight into the girls' bathroom.  
  
7.32 a.m.   
  
Draco paced out of the common room with Goyle and Crabbe on his side . He felt safer with the two thick-headed lumps beside him . That meant that if anything happens , the two idiots would get it first . Anyway , it has always seemed that all they ever say to him was " Yes , Draco." . Draco recalled the incident that happened last night . Granger breaking the school rules after dark . What an interesting piece of news . He smirked . Yet , his glee vanished on the thought that how she provoked him and how she had gotten both him and her in trouble with Filch . Now , he had to do his detention with her . Draco frowned . It was all her fault .   
The trio swept past a group of giggling girl who Draco knew , was giggling about him . After all , this was his 6th Year . He was well past his malnutrition form when he looked like a small spoilt brat , short and much more like a little boy than a teenager . He was now a well-built young adult , with chiseled features and two dozens of girls hot on his trail . He was a strong competitor in the department of good looks and female worshippers as opposed to Harry Potter . The only difference was that Potter had a steady girlfriend , Granger , whereas he was still single and available . Draco had never wanted to admit it but he was actually quite envious of Harry for having such a pretty girlfriend . Mudblood Granger was not exactly drop-dead gorgeous , but she had her share of secret admirers which was actually far more than any other girls in Hogwarts .   
Draco stepped into the Great Hall and marched confidently towards the Slytherin Table . An usual chorus of " Good morning , Draco" rang as he settled down . It was obvious that the whole Slytherin population had regarded him as the leader of Slytherin . Draco raised his head and looked up at the ceiling of the Great Hall . A fine autumn day with sunlight streaming into the Hall . He seriously hoped that the rest of the day would look as promising as the weather outside .   
  
7.43 a.m.   
  
Hermoine hopped into her usual seat beside Harry and Ron , panting . She had ran all the way down to the hall . She stole a glance at both Harry and Ron . The boys were engaged in a serious discussion about the following Quidditch match against the Slytherins and what tactics that would be used . So much of care and concern for their good friend cum girlfriend in Harry's case . Facing back to the front , Hermoine stifled a yawn . Her neck felt exceptionally stiff from the lack of sleep . Even her eyes have turned out to be puffy-looking .   
" Blame it on Malfoy ," she thought as she reached across the side to get a glass of pumpkin juice . Yet , why did he have such a sudden outbreak last night ? Just then , she felt someone staring at her across the room . She traced the direction of the person who was staring at her and looked back curiously . All she saw were two pools of silvery grey .Speak of the devil . Malfoy . Hermoine threw him a dirty look before resuming to what she was doing . She reached for an English muffin and an apple .   
Harry looked quizzically sideways at Hermoine . Her fine eyebrows were arched up into a frown as she bit silently into her apple . Hermoine was seldom late for anything . There must be something going on . Harry glanced at Ron and cocked an eyebrow . Ron looked back and shrugged his shoulders . Harry remembered vaguely that someone had been into the boys' dormitory and had rummaged through his drawers last night . He found that his invisibility cloak seemed to have been used as it turned out to be so ......neat . The usual thing that Harry would do was just to throw it into his drawers without bothering to fold it up properly . Yet , the one in the morning was so nicely folded up . Hermoine had definitely borrowed it again for her regular midnight trip to the kitchen for food . Had something happened to her in the middle of the midnight trip ?  
" Hermoine ?"  
Hermoine continued to stare right ahead as if she had not heard Harry .   
" Herm ?"  
Hermoine stirred and looked startling at him .   
" Huh ?"  
" Is everything all right ?"  
Hermoine smile weakly and took a gulp of her pumpkin juice .   
" Everything is perfect . Don't you worry about me ."  
With that , she went back to her food .   
Harry slipped a glance at Hermoine again . She was now attacking on her muffin , with her face cupped in one of her free hand and lost in her thoughts again . Something was amiss . Harry was determined to find out what happened . Malfoy would be a goner if he was ever found to have anything to do with this .   
  
8.05 a.m.   
  
Students were beginning to fill out of the hall for their first lesson of the day . Hermoine wiped the corner of her mouth and stood up . The first lesson of the day was Potion . They would be having it with the Slytherins --- again , for the 6th time in six years . She could hear Ron groaning when he found out that their first period was Potion from Seamus Finnigan .   
  
" Why must it be Potion ? Why can't it be Herbology ? I'd rather face the Mandrakes than Snape's pastel-coloured face ! I had actually thought that he was a school ghost when I stepped into Hogwarts at first !"  
  
Hermoine smiled at Ron's childishness . Potions was Ron's least favourite class . It was a well-known fact to the whole level of Gryffindors . Hermoine felt a sudden squeeze on her shoulders . She turned around and stared up at a pair of deep green eyes . Harry . He smiled tenderly down at her . Hermoine held her breath . This still happened to her everytime she looked at Harry even though they had been a pair since the summer this year .   
  
" Hi Harry ."  
Hermoine had felt extremely guilty for letting Harry worry for her just then . It was only a stupid curse that had backfired . She would survive .   
" Herm , I ......" " Harry !"  
Harry felt quite irritated with the sudden interruption . He had planned to have a private talk with her as he had been busy for the past few weeks and had not spent any time with Hermoine alone . Now that he finally gotten a chance , he had to be interrupted . He spun around and came face to face with one of the 5th Year beaters in the Gryffindor Quidditch Team .   
" Harry , there's something I have to report to you about our flying tactics ......"  
  
Hermoine motioned Harry to go over , reassuring him with a smile . With a apologetic look , Harry hurried over to the group of Gryffindor Beaters standing at the corner . Harry was the Quidditch Captain and Hermoine did not want to divert his concentration away from the on-coming match against the Slytherin . She began to carry on walking towards the direction of Snape's dungeon by herself , swinging her hands by her sides . It struck her suddenly as to why was she so carefree today . Hermoine looked at her bare hands . Then , she remembered . Her Potion books ! She had absentmindedly left them on the floor of the common room . Cursing silently , she began to scramble .   
  
8.12 a.m.   
  
Draco was one of the last to move out of the Great Hall . What was the point of going to Snape's dungeon so soon ? It was hot and humid inside . Anyway , Snape seldom deduct points from the Slytherins as he was their House Master . Hugging his books , he streamed out of the Great Hall slowly , while the others seemed to began to rush . The 6th Year with the Gryffindors . Tough luck . He watched the crowd getting lesser and lesser . He had better hurry . Taking long strides with his black robe sweeping behind his heels , Draco moved towards the dungeons .   
Hermoine hurried down the never-ending spiral stairway back into the Great Hall with the heavy pile of books in her hands . Shoot . She was ten minutes late for Snape's lesson . Suddenly , she felt pelts of chalk flying straight at her back .   
  
" Late ! Late ! A Prefect's late !" , a voice rang out mischievously .   
  
Hermoine rolled her eyes in disgust . Peeves the poltergeist . The last thing she would like to deal with at that moment of time . She swung around and pointed her wand up against the ghost threateningly .   
  
" Shut up , Peeves . I'm not in the mood ."  
  
Yet , much to her exasperation , Peeves continued to make as much noise as possible . The portraits hanging on the ancient walls frowned disapprovingly .   
  
" Peeves , don't push me ."  
  
Seeing that the playful ghost refused to cooperate , Hermoine had left with no other options but to strike .   
  
" Quietus !"  
  
Almost immediately , the whole place turned silent . Peeves opened its mouth , but nothing came out . Hermoine nodded approvingly . She glanced up at the dejected ghost .   
  
" It'll wear off . Serves you right ."   
  
With that , Hermoine went on her way . She heard Peeves swopped away , knocking down some armor of the knights in the process in anger .   
  
Draco took a step back and looked up among the spiral stairways . He thought he had heard something . Was it Peeves again ? He could hear someone talking in the middle .   
  
" Shut up , Peeves . I'm not in the mood ."  
  
Wait , was it some first years who were still running around playing truant ? Then , he heard a sudden crash .What now ? Draco pulled out his wand from under his sleeves cautiously and hid in the corner . He had to be careful . Soon , he heard footsteps .  
  
Hermoine skipped down the steps , two at a time . She was really running late . It would probably be a 50 points deduction from the Gryffindor house . She was near the end of the stairways when she felt presence of someone behind the wall . Hermoine reached for her wand automatically . It should be Peeves . He was really angry when she silent him just now . He might want revenge . She tip-toe down the final steps as quietly as possible . Hermoine knew that she had to attack first to save herself from ultimate disaster . She waited at the entrance of the stairways . Hermoine could still hear breathing . Good . Still there . Without hesitation , she swung around as quickly as she could and pointed her wand steadily at the subject in the dark corner .   
  
" Impervious !" she bellowed , as water repelled out of her wand .   
  
" Holy cow !" she heard the victim shouted among the shadows.   
  
Uh-oh . It sure did not sound a lot like Peeves . It looked like she had hit some student accidentally .   
  
" Who's that ?" Hermoine asked uncertainly as she moved closer .   
  
Draco sputtered some water out of his mouth . Who the hell was that ?! He was totally caught off guard . If that was Peeves , he would get it from Boodly Baron later . His eyes were sore from the sudden attack of water . He could fairly picture the person standing in front of him . A girl . He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision . He saw bushy hair .   
  
" Who's that ?" the person asked . Draco finally recognized the voice . Mudblood Granger .   
  
" It's me , you idiot !" he screamed . Draco stood up and walked out of the dark . He expected Granger to at least apologise for her mistake . Instead , she started laughing hysterically at the sight of him .   
  
" What are you laughing at ?" , he snarled .   
  
" You ... You ... You looked like you have peed in your pants !" , Hermoine managed to reply before laughing all over again .   
Draco turned into a shade of crimson red when he checked his reflection in one of the silver statues lining the Great Hall .He pointed his wand and dry his clothing using magic .   
  
" Shut up , Mudblood ."   
  
He then turned on his heels and walked towards the dungeons . Hermoine tried to stifle her laughter as she followed .   
  
8.36 a.m.   
  
Harry looked around worriedly . Hermoine was never late for Potions . Even Ron was feeling uneasy now . He had been shifting in his seat uncomfortably . Snape did not looked that well that morning . Probably because Malfoy was not there either . Snape had already deducted twenty points off Gryffindors and ten off the Slytherins so far for not answering his questions correctly . The whole class was not very happy and definitely bored with Snape , even the Slytherins . Harry could see Seamus Finnigan yawning and Pansy Parkinson checking her nails . Just then , the door of Snape's dungeon rattled . Everyone's attention shifted to the door .   
Both Draco and Hermoine stepped into the class . Hermoine was still shaking from silent laughter , while Draco entered with two red tint on his cheeks . The class started to whisper among themselves , while Snape eyed at both of them suspiciously . Hermoine could see Harry and Ron staring at her in bewilderment . How could both of the school's most notorious and the most obeying come to the class late together ? Draco cleared his throat .   
  
" Um .... Professor Snape , Mud..... I mean , Hermoine and I have to run some errands for Professor McGonagall ."   
  
Snape merely darted his beetle-black eyes from Draco to Hermoine and back , sizing them up . Both Hermoine and Draco tried to look as innocent as possible . Finally , Snape nodded his head and motioned them to return to their seats with a sweep of one of his bony hands .   
Hermoine could feel Pansy Parkinson's murderous glare at her back as she slide down into her seat beside Neville Longbottom . She glanced backwards and saw Harry still with the " What are you doing with Malfoy" look on his face . Hermoine smiled in assurance and mouthed the words " Tell you later" before turning back to face the front .   
Draco could sense the whole of Slytherin 6th Years staring at the back of his neck . He rolled his eyes in irritation . Yeah , so what that he was late for Snape's class with a Gryffindor laughing like an idiot beside him ? Draco felt a nudge at his side . He turned and faced Crabbe impatiently.   
  
" What ?"  
He could feel the same question coming out again .  
" Granger's your newest target ?"   
Draco could feel Harry's eyes on him .  
" Shut up ."  
  
But all Crabbe did was that he started to laugh . It sounded like a pig snorting away . Draco crumbled a piece of parchment and threw it at Crabbe .   
" Ten points from Slytherin for not listening in class ," Snape announced with a disapproving glare towards Draco's direction. Cheers erupted from the Gryffindors' side .   
Harry looked on with many questions forming in his head . Why was Hermoine late ? Moreover , she arrived with Malfoy . He peeked sideways at Draco , who happened to be at the same row with him . Draco was busy scribbling with his quill , while Hermoine in the front , was flipping through her Potion book . Everything looked normal . Harry told himself not to let his imagination run wild . It just happened that McGonagall had something that required both their help and therefore they were late . He sat back and tried to concentrate . Yet , the tugging feeling remained for the rest of Potion class. 


End file.
